WiP’s

It’s been an interesting week or so, since my last post. I finally finished a Monkey Sock! This one has been on the needles for so long it’s not even funny. I had finished it up to the point of the heel and just kind of put it aside. I heel flap was diffrent for me, as my first sock was done with a short row heel.

This is how it turned out! I am really pleased, as this was my first project using in any type of lace patterning, and chart reading. Although, let me tell you, I sure am glad all this was written out long-hand…..I really don’t like trying to read charts….it’s so hard for me and I kept losing my place. I also really have a hard time with charted cross stitch as well….I’ve only been working on the same cross stitc project for the last 8 years :(.

I haven’t started the second one yet……I did start a different sock entirely. I needed a bit of a change of pace sock wise, and am working on the Cedar Creek Sock by Kaci Kyler Hays. This one is a much more simple pattern, that I have been able to memorize. I’m already 4″ into this sucker, so it’s going quickly. I guess I have the Second Sock Syndrome that I have heard so much about 🙂 I don’t have any pictures of this one yet, but will post as soon as its recognizable. The yarn is a great Socks That Rock yarn in the Hard Rock Colorway

So in other news. We went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park last week. What a fun day! It was only in the mid 90’s so it was a good day to go out there. We hit it in the afternoon, with the intention of doing “The Park at Dark” which was just them staying open late. It ended up being a smart move, as many of the animals were a lot more active. Since we received a membership to the park as a gift (Thanks Mom and Dad!) we had some money to put towards one of the additional activities. We went ahead and sprung for the Photo Caravan Safari. It was a great move on our part, they take you out in a truck and actually drive through the enclosures….additionally, you get to hand feed an animal! We hit the Giraffe feeding which was awesome…..but I must warn you, giraffes have the longest, stickiest, and bluest toungues I have ever seen.

Mr. Nemesis got lucky and managed to lure this little (in relative terms) cutie over to feed. This guy was one of the baby giraffes, he was about 8 feet tall! Here are the two of us with the Mama giraffe. Please ignore the really awful tan lines!

Here I am with the Mama Giraffe. She was not shy about nosing around you to get at those yummy yummy leaves. One of the other girls on the tour got her ear licked by the baby…..She needed about 4 wet wipes to get off all the giraffe spit.

We also got a lovely close up view of these guys too. Cape Buffalo….Unfortunately, I couldn’t talk to the guide into going out and staring it down a’ la’ Crocodile Dundee. This one was definitely giving us the stink eye. I have some other great shots of an ornery ostrich, the cutest little baby rhinocerose and his mama, and various and sundry other critters. They may make appearances here from time to time.

I think I have finally gotten into the groove with my knitting. I have had The French Market Bag from Knitty on the needles since last October. It’s not a particularly complicated pattern, it just was rather tedious to knit through the miles of stockinette stitch on the body of the bag.

I haven’t been able to felt it yet, as I only have access to laundromat style machine at our temporary housing. But here is a picture of it unfelted.

I think we will be moving into permanent housing next week, with hopefully our own washer and dryer, I will be able to do the felting. If not, then it will just have to wait until I get home this winter.

I have also been working on the ever so popular Monkey Sock by designer Cookie A. This is my second pair of socks, and these have also been on the needles for a long time…..Over a year in this case! I like the pattern, but got sidetracked with other projects, and kind of lost my vision for them. Mine are in my favorite Socks that Rock yarn, in the Rolling Stone colorway. I am nearly finished with the first sock. I think now that I have the pattern down, and have gotten through the heel (this is the first time I haven’t done a short row heel, so it’s a little different for me) the second sock will be a lot smoother.

I will have pictures of the sock soon! In the meantime here are a couple more shots from our San Diego adventures!

From the Shamu show “Believe” I don’t remember which whale this one was, but its not Shamu.

The whale trainers really have to be in great shape for this to work. In order to do this stunt the trainer had to dive to the bottom of the really deep tank so the whale could get a good momentum going to get the trainer up. They are under water for quite a while!

This lady trainer was great! She actually “surfed” around the tank on this guys back. Boy, were these whales spoiled rotten!

The elusive Mr. Nemesis! I finally got a picture of him, he isn’t too big on pictures……This is right before the dolphin show Ignite. Fireworks and Dolphins OH MY! Actually it was a good show, but very difficult to photograph. Since it was full dark, I didn’t really get any good shots of the dolphins or pilot whales that were performing, the back lighting from the pyrotechnics was too brigh for my little camera. I got smart and took my little one with me, it fits in a ziplock bag so it doesn’t get splashed 🙂

Well, I found another knitting project to embark on. I have started a chevron scarf from Joelle Hoverson’s Last Minute Knitted Gifts So far this is a super simple project. I have been eyeballing this project for a while and just happened upon my ideal color scheme.

I chose Socks that Rock Yarn in medium weight from my stash in the Lagoon and Algae colorways and away I went.

Here a couple pictures of my scarf thus far.

I’m very much liking this color combination. I was really wondering what I was going to use for this one, but seeing those two colors next to each other really jumped out at me. I wanted something a little more subtle than some of the other versions I have seen. I think this one will be for me, unless one of my family members really just decides that they must have it. Now I will just have to order another skein of the algae colorway, since I had bought it for a different project.

Well, I have started my new job……It’s going very well. It seems straightforward so far.

In knitting news, I have no news on the Lizard Ridge. I still need to get some yarn for seaming and border. But I should have it soon……then the fun begins. The final arrangement of squares is not yet finzalized, so still a bit of work to be done there.

The Monkey sock has been expanded! I have finished all the lace repeats on the leg, and begun the heel. Slightly out of focus…..but here is the idea, with a close up of the lace pattern below.

I also have started the French Market Bag from Knitty. This was a nice mindless airport project. Also useful for knitting nights because I can actually chat and keep up with the pattern. I’m using Paton’s Soy Wool Stripes in the Natural Plum Colorway.

I scored a great deal on this yarn at Michael’s while it was on sale for $3.85 a skein. I can’t find much better for feltable yarn.

My last little project was something that my sister and I worked on in Denver. We each made a couple of these for ourselves. Her’s are gifts for a friend who is moving away, mine are for toting knitting around. The sock bags were made using this tutorial. I have made similar bags in the past with no pattern, so this wasn’t a huge challenge for me, and I could have done it without the pattern. But, it is much easier when you are actually given the dimensions ahead of time.

Here’s a shot with my knitting tucked inside:

These little bags are so simple, they only take me about an hour to make them. I used two fat quarter squares of cotton fabric, a 9″ zipper, some interfacing and matching thread. Only about $5.00 worth of materials, if I buy them at the fabric store. The beauty of these are I have a lot of scraps of fabric and a stash of zippers that will let me crank one of these out anytime.

I have started a new knitting project…..I know, I know, I have plenty to work on without starting something new. But I absolutely couldn’t resist this pattern: Hansi Singh’s Octopus

I am making Octopussy, my ode to one of my favorite James Bond flicks of all time out of Cascade 220 Heathered. In a darker red and dark tan color. She is modeled after a Red Octopus which can be found here in the Pacific Northwest.

This pattern really appealed to me. I am a certified SCUBA diver and have some experience diving here in the Puget Sound. Not nearly as much as I would like, and I haven’t ever been fortunate enough to see one of these little guys in the wild. I will keep my eyes peeled for them.

I am currently working on 6 out of the eight tentacles, and will finish the tentacle assembly before beginning work on the mantle and head. Maybe by the time my dive buddy hubbie’s regulator is back from repair I will have a little dive mascot 🙂

After a long hiatus, here are some new pictures of the Lizard Ridge squares. I am up to 20 squares now, with 15 more to go to get the extra large blanket my hubby requested. I think I have enough yarn now to finish it off entirely with several extra squares to boot. That way I can switch any out that just look too strange with the rest of them.

Well make that a bootie, as in a baby bootie! No I don’t have any exciting news to share with my dear readers….. I’m just adding to my hope(less) chest. I found this pattern for booties at Saartje Knit’s Blog . The pattern is available in English as a free PDF download.

I have to say these are just the cutest little things! You can see another version at The Purl Parables. Brandy made her darling booties out of leftover Socks that Rock.